WWE SmackDown Preview: Confirmed matches and segments (05-08-2026)

Sami Zayn and Gingerbread Man on WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown takes place tonight live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Several matches and segments have already been confirmed for the broadcast, including a Women’s US Title between champion Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James.

Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Fatal Influence has also been announced in this go-home show for Backlash, as well as an in-ring segment from Gunther and The Gingerbread Man “funeral.”

WWE SmackDown Card for tonight

Here is the full card and segments that are confirmed as of writing:

SegmentTypeStakes
Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Fatal InfluenceSix-woman tagBacklash title-match setup
Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Kiana JamesWomen’s United States ChampionshipStratton’s first defense
Gunther in-ring promoSegmentPost-attack on Cody Rhodes
The Gingerbread Man funeralSami Zayn segmentUS Title rematch build
Jake Skudder
Jake Skudder

Jake is an SEO-minded Football, Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief, Sports SEO Coordinator for NationalWorld and SEO Writer for F4Wonline.com. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012 under the name Jake Jeremy. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop, The Hard Times and Sportskeeda.

Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.

He previously worked for the (then) biggest independent wrestling company in the UK, PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.